Watching the V8 Supercars I noticed that they only have 1 wiper blade and it ‘rests’ vertically going up the middle of the screen. What is the reason for this? I can understand that they only need to keep half the screen clear but why have it resting on the windscreen rather than across the bottom as in a road car?
Googling I found a document called “V8 SUPERCARS OPERATIONS MANUAL RULES” which states:
Why would the rules stipulate that the wiper blade needs to be in the driver’s line of vision?
Why park in the middle? Not sure, but everything has to go somewhere.
As far as the driver’s vision part goes, the blade has to clean in driver’s line of vision. You can’t put a little tiny 3" blade over on the other side of the windscreen and claim that you have a legal wiper for this class of car.
I read “subject to there being at least one (1) windscreen wiper provided in the Driver’s line of vision” to mean the wiper has to rest in the driver’s line of vision. Of course it is undestandable that the wiper needs to clear the driver’s vision.
I think you must be misinterpreting that rule, because that would be insane.
My guess would be that the wiper interferes with the aerodynamics less in that position. Either that or it’s just mechanically easier to position it there for some reason.
ETA: You see that wiper positioning in other racing series too, so it’s not just a V8 Supercars thing.
You want to park the wiper in a position where it causes the least amount of drag. In the vertical position it has the smallest cross-section in the direction of airflow.
Of course, you can solve the problem by having a race car that doesn’t have a windscreen and thus no wiper, like mine. 
Very cool :). Do you have tear-off strips for your helmet visor?
I assume this is a “stock” class of cars (nominally), wherein certain aspects of the street cars must appear on the race cars. Apparently this includes not just main body panels and windows, but also headlights and wipers.
The headlights are vestigial, but in the pictures I’ve seen it does look like there’s some portion of clear lens, which may have bulb inside, which might light up. :rolleyes:
Apparently the wipers don’t have to work, there just has to be that blade there. If it could be hidden, a blade could be stuck anywhere and the rule requiring it would be totally ridiculous. Being visible, it ever so slightly imitates a street car, and the rule is merely silly and stupid. 
The helmet has the pins for them. In general, I don’t use 'em - cars in this class tend to not race in heavy rain (we run with other open-wheelers, so nobody has anything to keep their interior from getting soaked).
On regular roads in the rain, there’s enough airflow past the helmet that turning my head slightly from side to side will blow most of the rain off of my visor. However, there are other unpleasant things - like the seats filling up with water (that’s why they call them bucket seats :rolleyes:). Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and bear it - in Nebraska I was on the Interstate and the heavens just opened - to the point where tractor trailer rigs were pulling over. In an open car, that doesn’t help, so I kept going in the hope I’d encounter an overpass or a gas station with a canopy to shelter under. No such luck. But I did see a sign that said “Next Services 112 Miles” :smack:.
Here and here are two of the kinds of storms I’m talking about.
When you’re driving cross-country in one of these cars, you have to settle for whatever weather you get. I drove from NY to CA and back this summer, to hit a bunch of race tracks along the way (with the high point being 2 days at Laguna Seca*). The coldest I’ve been was below freezing (September in Bighorn National Forest) and the hottest was 127 degrees (July in Death Valley).
If anyone is interested, I have a blog where I talk about these trips and post pictures and the occasional video (12 of these cars going across the Golden Gate Bridge in formation, for example). Start here for the 2010 trip.
The headlights work and are used in rain and also often by faster drivers following a slower car (to intimidate them maybe? I don’t know.) They do often have advertising stickers over the lens but when the lights are on it’s pretty obvious.
If the wipers didn’t work they wouldn’t be able to drive in the rain. They definitely work.
I was thinking more of getting more of dust and grit but if you don’t use them then that can’t be a problem either.
I used to have a car that would let waves of water in through the passengers floor in weather like that.
A quick wipe with the driving glove (which has a swiffer-like back surface for this) takes care of that. With the low ground clearance these cars have, we don’t race on dirt. Bugs can be more of a problem.
This is a (huge) picture of some of us at what many of us consider to be our “home” track - Hallett in Oklahoma.
